Guitar Hero also wants to play Kasuga Shadow!

"Xiangzi...are you under too much pressure lately?"

Without letting go of Xiangzi's hand, Pochi walked along Xiangzi's arm and stood beside him. "The matter of Mujica... plus it's almost the end of the semester, and Xiangzi still has to prepare for the scholarship... and..."

"Okay, no need to say..."

Xiangzi pulled away the hand that was held by Pochi, took a step back, and put some distance between himself and Pochi, "I'm actually, fine."

"Really?"

The hand that was thrown away was still suspended in mid-air. I was really worried about Xiangzi's condition. Recently, I sometimes saw her yawning in class, which obviously never happened normally...

"Well, really."

Xiangzi forced a smile, then noticed that Pochi still hadn't lowered his hand, and realized that blindly rejecting the kindness would only make Pochi feel disappointed. "It's just... Mujica, you have to succeed."

"Is it... because of Xiangzi's family?"

I have been intentionally avoiding topics like that, but so much time has passed and our relationship should be better than it was then, so I tried to touch on sensitive topics.

"That's not wrong, is it?"

After all, Pochi was there at the time. Although she might not fully understand the situation, she could guess a little bit.

"Mujica, if this fails..."

Toyokawa Shoko lowered her head, brewing her emotions, "Maybe, I will never again..."

"No, Mujica will not fail!"

Pochi took a step forward and entered Xiangzi's sight with his head half lowered.

"Although...although we haven't performed yet, everyone...and Xiangzi, have all worked so hard...Also, from the rehearsals, you can see how serious Xiangzi is about the band, the stage play, and the atmosphere. Xiangzi will be reviewing it himself, and they're all...so serious, so it will definitely be a success..."

It was rare for Pochi to say so much in one breath. Xiangzi looked at her in surprise. After a while, Xiangzi's expression softened. "Yeah, with Pochi by my side, how could I fail?"

-

"Let's stop here for today."

Shiina Riki tapped his drumsticks to signal to the others that today's rehearsal was over.

"Eh? So fast?"

Chihaya Aine still had her guitar on her back. It felt like today's rehearsal time was much shorter than before. "Rikki, are you tired?"

"Huh? Why don't you think about whether there is something wrong with you first?"

"Because, if something had happened to me, Rikki wouldn't have had to wait until now."

Chihaya Aine scratched her head and said something that left Riki speechless.

"Is it because of me?"

Su Shi frowned beside him. It wasn't like before, when he had to appear gentle in everything he did. It was exhausting. Now that he was back with everyone, while he couldn't just write off what had happened, he could at least be more frank about this matter than before.

"It's because... Pochi."

Deng shook his head, denying Su Shi's statement, "With Pochi gone, I always feel like something is missing, and... everyone is a little out of shape."

"Yeah, that's it."

Hearing Dengye express the same opinion as himself, Lixi also said it more clearly, "Maybe, we really got together because of Pochi."

Hearing such blunt words, even Aine felt a little lost, and her strategy of playing dumb was no longer effective.

Indeed, everyone had been feeling a bit off since the start of today's rehearsal, and Chihaya Aine hadn't been unaware of that. Without Pochi, she was left with only her own guitar. While practicing just to do her part was fine, without Pochi, the tune felt like it was missing the lead guitar; it was completely devoid of soul.

"Then... let's stop here for today..."

Aiyin slowly put away her guitar, still recalling what the rehearsals were like when Pochi was there.

"Deng, I'll take you home."

"Uh-huh."

Even after Li Xi and Deng left, Aine was still sitting there with her head down, in a daze.

"Does it take so long to collect a guitar?"

"Eh?"

I thought everyone else had left, but I didn't expect someone to talk to me. "So... Soyorin?"

"Tsk, can you change your taste?"

"It's so cute,"

After realizing that she wasn’t alone in her daze, Aine adjusted her composure and a smile reappeared on her face. “But, Soyorin took the initiative to come to me, is there something wrong?”

Is she trying to get close to me and pretend that all the inappropriate things she did to me never happened? Humph, I'm not that easy to bribe.

"Just... want to ask you something,"

Nagasaki Motoyo turned her eyes away from Aine and played with the ends of her hair, "Various things..."

221

Chapter 221 You’ve worked hard...

"So, what does Soyorin want to ask?"

The two of them walked out and turned into the coffee shop on the second floor. Aine flipped through the menu, looking up from time to time to observe Soyo's reaction. "Also, what would Soyorin like to drink?"

"you……"

I was a little overwhelmed by her calling me Soyorin all the time, and started to wonder if finding her was the best choice.

"Oh, right, hot Earl Grey tea, right? It was recommended to me when we first met Sushi."

Seeing some familiar names on the menu, Aine raised her head and looked around. "Come to think of it, I think we were sitting here the first time too, but Pochi wasn't here this time."

"The second time."

"what?"

"I said, having coffee here is our second meeting."

Nagasaki Suyo corrected Aine's statement.

"Eh? Oh... is that so?..."

I've forgotten some of what happened back then, but "Soyorin remembers it very clearly."

"What would you like to drink?"

The student who was working part-time today came to place an order. He suddenly missed being served by Li Xi. "Well, how about a glass of mango juice? How about Soyorin? You don't want black tea, do you?"

"of course."

"How about trying the mango juice?"

"no need."

There are already a lot of things prepared in the refrigerator at home. "I'll have a cup of hot Earl Grey tea."

"Okay, one glass of mango juice and one glass of hot Earl Grey tea. Please wait a moment."

"Really? Soyorin doesn't try anything new. She's not keeping up with the trends."

Chihaya Aine put down the menu and teased Suyo, "It's like mango juice, it's been selling really well at Ring lately."

"By not keeping up with the trend, do you mean keeping up with your abysmal taste?"

"What's wrong with that? Pochi praised me!"

"Pochi's taste isn't that great, is it?"

"Hmm... I agree with that..."

Realizing that the topic had inexplicably turned to Pochi again, Chihaya Aine stopped pretending and came clean, "Soyorin came to me to ask about Pochi, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not just about Pochi."

The hands on the table couldn't help but touch each other and pinch their fingers, "How was the band when I was away?"

"The band,"

Aine narrowed her eyes as she spoke, recalling the events of the recent past. “Back then, everyone was thinking about giving up on finding a bassist.”

"Then...what next?"

Although he knew it was his fault, he still swallowed hard when he heard what the outcome might be.

"Then..."

Chihaya Aine recalled the details of that time, trying to find something that would make Su Shi feel more guilty. "Oh, by the way, speaking of finding another bassist, are you familiar with Hai Ling?"

"Not familiar, just acquaintance."

"I don't know why I didn't want to join at that time. My classmate Rikki was here and he wasn't in the band himself..."

"Then...what next?"

Even though it's already in the past, it still hurts to hear that I was almost replaced.

"And then, it's Pochi again, saying something about having to be with Sushi, but the main thing is that Hailing-san doesn't plan to join."

"Hello, here's your mango juice and hot Earl Grey tea. Please enjoy."

As soon as Aine finished speaking, Bess placed the mango juice on the table and took a sip of it. "That's it. So, why does Pochi say that it has to be you?"

Although he was asking Su Shi, he was also asking himself at the same time, if he were to quit the band, would Boqi want to get him back just like he wanted to get Su Shi back?

"Why..."

Nagasaki Motoyo repeated Aine's words, and she herself didn't quite understand why.

It was clearly like that, he clearly showed that he didn't care about her feelings at all, and she was the one who was hurt the most...

Why did she try so hard to pull herself back?

Could it be... Pochi! You did all this just for... me?

-

"Xiangzi...where are you going?"

Pochi followed Xiangzi for a long time and had no idea where their destination was.

"What's wrong? Doesn't Pochi like walking aimlessly down the street?"

Because I have done all kinds of part-time jobs, handing out flyers was the easiest to find at the beginning. Now that I have been away for so long, I do miss the feeling back then.

“Neither…nor…”

Let alone walking aimlessly on the street, even if I had a purpose, I wouldn’t really feel like walking. After staying at home for a long time, I naturally don’t like going out.

However, being with Xiangzi was another matter. I knew Xiangzi would not do anything without a purpose, so I didn't say anything along the way.

"It's almost here..."

"oh oh."

Pochi nodded. Even though Xiangzi said they were almost at their destination, why didn't Xiangzi look happy at all?!

Or was it actually a place Xiangzi didn't want to go, and he dragged me along to take it with him? This is too weird to think like that. How could Xiangzi be such a person...

……

"arrive."

Finally, after turning a few corners, we arrived in front of a cheap-looking apartment building. "Welcome, Pochi, to... my home."

"Eh?"

So... Xiangzi lives in a place like this? I was a little surprised, but also somewhat expected it. I knew that something had happened to Xiangzi's family, so living in a place like this to save money was understandable.

But, what I'm more curious about now is, "Does Xiangzi... live alone?"

Xiangzi beside him did not hear Pochi's question. She was looking at the apartment, a little absent-minded and lost, and no one knew what she was thinking.

I... brought Pochi here...

Although he couldn't let Pochi into the house because his father was at home, he still told Pochi his address. It was also the first time that he fully revealed his situation to others.

What would she think? Would she think the place I live in is a little too shabby? I was a little afraid to turn around and meet Pochi's gaze, but... this was also the reason I made up my mind to bring Pochi here.